Nien Lam

Completed 12/2009

Using your breath, you can remotely control the 3 elemental forces of nature (wind, fire and water) through a 6 foot bamboo cane.
 

The idea is based on the Chilean rainsticks that recreate the sound of rain when they are flipped over. The Elemental Stick allows for control of the forces of nature by the use of your breath. Mother Nature or God would perhaps use this type of interface to control the elemental forces. As you blow into the remote (shorter bamboo cane) the sounds of wind, fire, or water coming from the long bamboo cane will grow louder and the lights will become brighter in addition to changing color based on the element selected. Twisting the remote, ie. altering the tilt, will change the control between the 3 different elemental forces.

 
Elemental Stick and Remote Demo

Construction and Testing
- Arduino Pro Mini’s are used for the microcontrollers
- Wireless communication is done via the Xbee’s
- A thermistor is used for the breath sensor
- The BlinkM MaxM, available on Sparkfun, is used to light the fiber optics
- The MP3 Trigger, also available on Sparkfun, is used for audio playback and storage

Testing Elemental Stick

After getting feedback from class, I’ve changed my idea a bit. So instead of a device that tells you the weather, I created a device where you can control the elemental forces of nature. Using your breath, you will remotely control wind, fire and water. Mother nature or God would perhaps use this type of interface to control the elemental forces. The project is made of a 6 foot bamboo cane that houses the electronics(w/ Xbee), a speaker and fiber optic cables. The remote is a shorter bamboo cane you blow into. It houses a Xbee, a thermistor and an accelerometer. As you blow into the remote, the sounds from the long bamboo cane will become louder and the fiber optics will become brighter. Twisting the remote will allow you to change between the 3 different elemental forces.
 
Testing Electronics

 
Testing Elemental Stick

 
Elemental Stick and Remote Demo

For my project I’m creating a device that tells you the weather forecast. Using sound, and possibly visuals, I plan to create a wireless device which will get the latest weather report. Based on the report, it will translate this into sounds.  For example, if it is sunny out it will play sounds of the beach, or if it is cold it would play the sounds of wind blowing. My idea and interface is based on the rainsticks that come from Chile or Peru. These sticks are normally made from cactus filled with pebbles. When flipped over, the pebbles bouncing to the bottom generate what sounds like rain. Instead of cactus I will be using bamboo, which is easier to find and work with then cactus, and embed it with speakers to create sounds of different types of weather. An accelerometer inside the stick will detect the motion and play the tracks when the stick is flipped over. I may also add a visual element using fiber optic cables that change colors/brightness in correspondence with the weather/temperature. The general goal of my project is to create something that tells you the weather in a more interesting and visceral way.

For our media controller, Patrick Hebron, Don Miller and I built a video game using Processing and the Arduino micro-controller. The game allows up to six players. Players work together to control a tank’s x-movement, y-movement, turret rotation, firing rate and force-field. We designed the game to work as a platform. Any media controller that sends out 2 digital bits (00, 01, 10) can plug in and control one of the tanks attributes. The game is called Double Agent cause when a tank is struck by a projectile, one of the players from the side which got hit will swap to the other side giving that side an increased advantage. When a side has no players, the game is over.

 
The controller hub and controllers.

• Download the Processing/Arduino Code

Using an H-bridge you can control a DC motor’s direction. Here I’m using the Texas Instruments L293NE. Setup and code can be found here.

Using a TIP120 transistor, we can control high-current DC loads. Here I’m using potentiometer to change the brightness of a incandescent light bulb that is powered by a 9V power supply. Setup and code can be found here.

Using 2 potentiometers and a switch, I’m sending 3 sensor values over to Processing to control the display of a circle on a black background. The 2 potentiometers control the x/y position while the switch controls the circle visibility. Setup and code can be found here. I had to change the value mapping to account for using potentiometers vs the accelerometer used in the example.
 

Using a potentiometer with Arduino, we can send serial data to Processing. The readings are graphed over time. Setup and code can be found here.
 

After trying to calibrate the analog sensor to play a tune, I was unsuccessful in getting particular shades to consistently play the tones I want. I instead tried to use the photocell to detect white or black, representing 0 or 1. Using 4 photocells, I can create 16 combinations which is enough for a 2 octave scale. Below is the printed chart I used to map the tones and a clip playing the 2 octave scale .

Using a photocell, I can play 2 octaves of the C major scale. The next objective is to try to play a tune.